Western Carolina University

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Joyner Building

RL Madison, first President of the Cullowhee Academy in 1889

The Western Carolina University (also WCU called) is a state university in Cullowhee in the US state of North Carolina . The college was founded in 1889. There are currently 10,491 students enrolled. It is part of the University of North Carolina system .

history

In 1888 the Cullowhee Academy was founded by a board of trustees of the citizens of Cullowhee , which from 1891 also became known as Cullowhee High School. It also hosted boarding school students from neighboring counties and other states. The first director was Robert Lee Madison, who soon sought teacher training at the school and which was approved and financed by the North Carolina legislature in 1893. It was the first publicly funded normal school in North Carolina. In 1905, the state took over the facility's buildings and property and converted it into a state institution, renaming it Cullowhee Normal & Industrial School . The name was then changed to Cullowhee State Normal School in 1925. By the mid- 1920s , over two thousand teachers were trained here.

The school gradually developed into a junior college. In 1929 it was the legislature as a four-year model ( four-year institution ) under the name of Western Carolina Teachers College out and was regarded as a model for other regional universities in the country.

The demand for further courses led to an expansion of the school offer. Postgraduate studies and the Master of Arts in Education were added to the curriculum in 1951 . In 1953 the school operated under the name "Western Carolina College". The North Carolina General Assembly then referred to it in 1967 under the current title "Western Carolina University". On July 1, 1972, WCU became a member of North Carolina's 16 colleges university system.

Faculties

• applied Sciences
• Arts and sciences
• Education and related professions
• Economics
• Honors College

Sports

The sports teams of the WCU are the Catamounts . The university is a member of the Southern Conference .

Well-known lecturers

• Rick Boyer , writer and lecturer in literature

Web links

• Western Carolina University

Coordinates: 35 ° 18 ′ 40 "  N , 83 ° 11 ′ 2"  W.